Learning About E-Planning: The Results of a Massive Open Online Course Experiment

The Origins Of Technicity

TechniCity originated as a result of a discussion on distance learning at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) Annual Conference in the Fall of 2012 held in Cincinnati, Ohio. Faculty at universities from across the United States expressed interest in continuing the dialogue to see how planning courses could fit the MOOC model which was relatively new and gaining attention. The Ohio State University was offering seed support to launch pilot MOOCs across the university. Virginia Tech, while not a member of a MOOC consortium decided to partner with Ohio State University on this course offering. The course was inspired by two similar courses taught at the upper undergraduate level at Ohio State University and the graduate level at Virginia Tech - an elective course for city planning students at both universities. Two faculty members and an instructional technologist were joined by two doctoral students who worked together to design the class projects, assignments, lectures, discussion topics, organize the course, and facilitate the students’ participation. Additionally, they were supported by teaching assistants who helped track student activity during the four week course.

The course was scheduled during Ohio State University’s “Maymester”, a four-week academic term between the Spring and Summer semester. This means that the course was compressed significantly compared to typical MOOCs that average 10-12 weeks in length and traditional semester length courses averaging 15-16 weeks. As discussed later, the short duration and intensiveness of the course proved to be the biggest challenges for students in the class.